Shank-stiffener



(No Model.)

G. H. STEVENS. SHANK STIFPENEB..

11111431121. Patentd Aug. 12, 1890;"

m/l TML-:5555 /A/ VEN TUF-1 2 ZKM, C. W v

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.v

GEORGE H. STEVENS, OF MELROSE,MASSACHUSETTS SHANK-STIFFENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,121, dated August 12, 1890.

Application filed January 23, 1890. Serial No. 337,819. (No model.) i

'0 all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, GEORGE H. STEVENS, of Melrose, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shank- Stiifeners for Boots or Shoes, of which the` following is a specification, reference being had to the drawings accompanying and forming a part hereof, in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved shank-stiffener. Fig. 2 is also a perspective, showing my improved shank-stiffener attached to a shank-stiffener made from leather-board or other suitable material. Fig. 3 is a vertical lengthwise section of a portion of a boot, showing' the method of applying my improved shank-stiffener directly to the sole of the boot or shoe.

My invention relates to shankstiffeners made from metal. Metallic shank-stiffeners are well known and are in common use. These consist, so far as known to me, of a flat strip of met-al having holes usually near either end for convenience in securing the shankfstiffener in place, or the ends of the strip or thin rod which forms the shank-stiffener are turned up to form projections, by means of which it is secured in place. Metallic shanksti ffeners of the irst kind mentioned`-namely, those having holes punched in them to receive tacks or brads-are expensive to use, because in securing them in place the operator is required to handle the tack, ptit it in position, and drive it in-an operation which takes considerable time and requires some skill. Met-allic shank-stiifeners of the second kind mentioned-viz., those which have their ends turned up to form projections by which the stiftener is secured-are generally applied to a shank-stilfener made from leather-board or other suitable material to stiften the same and help it when shaped to retain its shape. These leatherboard stifteners are reversely skived at the toe and heel ends, and as the projections on the metallic shank should pass into and through the whole thickness of the material of the leather-board shank, and not through the skived end, in order to hold securely, the skived ends of the leather-board shank are unprotected by the metal, and it often happens that these skived portions, which project beyond the metallic shank-stiener, break oft'. This tendency to break olf is increased` by the fact that the stiifener'is weaken ed at the place where the projection of the metallic shank-stifener passes through it.

The object of my invention is to produce a metallic shank-stiffener which may be quickly and cheaply set in position either in the sole of a boot or shoe or in a shank-stiffener composed of leather-board or other suitable material and without the employment of skilled labor, and, further, to produce a metallic shank-stiffener which may be nearly as long as the leather-board stiffener to which it is applied, its ends projecting beyond the points at which it is secured to the leather-board stiffener, so as to form for the thin skived ends of the leather-board stifener a firm support, and thus prevent said ends from breaking; and it consists in a metallic shank of the kind shown in the accompanying drawings and hereinafter described.

My invention is simple, and will be readily understood from the following description.

I use, preferably, a tape of malleable iron of the proper dimensions in cross-section for the shank-stiffener desired. This I cut in any well-known manner into :sectionsr of the requisite length for a stiffener, and 'by means of a common punch and die strike up, preferably, a three-cornered piece a, the sides of which are cut from the strip, but the base of which is left attached thereto. The projections a are preferably two in number and are some distance inside the ends of the shank, and are used to secure the stiffener in place. They are always in position, and the shank is ready when picked up by the operator to be placed on the material to which it is to be attached and the projections a driven into or through the material and clinched against a suitable clinching-surface. The precise width or thickness or shape of the metallic strip which forms the shank b is unimportant, and may be varied as desired.

Vhen a metal shank is to be applied to a shank-stiffener of leather-board, I prefer to 4make the met-al shank sufficiently long to extend half-way or more across the skived portion at the ends of the leather-board shank d, as shown in Fig. 2, in order that the ends of the metal'shank beyond the securing-points may 'afford a support for the thinner skived IOO portions of the leatherboard stiffener. In applying the metallic stiffener to the leather-` board stiffener I prefer to place it on the upper surface thereof, as shown in Fig. 2, and to drive the projections a through the leatherboard and clinch them on the other side. This is done While Ithe stiifeners are hat, and when the stiffener is molded the malleable metal insures the molded stiffener retaining its shape. When the metallic shank-stiffener is applied directly to the insole f of a shoe, no other shank-stiffener being used, it is placed under-A neath the insole and the projections driven home, as shown in Fig. 3. In the latter case the projections a should be shorter, so as not to project through the insole,bnt only into it sufficiently to prevent the stiften er from shifting its position.

My improved stiifener is cheaper to make than any forni of metallic stiffener now known to me,whilc the ends do not require to be cnt down or narrowed or pointed, and thus a broad thin shank may be produced having all the advantages of the well-known perforated shank above referred to, While it has the advantages of ease and eheapness in handling 0f metallic shanks made with turned-up ends, by which they are secured in place.

What I claim is- A metallic shank-stiiener having` securing points or projections inside the ends thereof, said projections being integral therewith and struck up from the metal of which the stiiener is composed, substantially as shown and described.

GEORGE H. STEVENS.

Vitnesses:

WM. A. MACLEOD, ROBERT WALLACE. 

